


Chichi-ue

by Sausan



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29372265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sausan/pseuds/Sausan
Summary: Inspired by the opening scene of Inuyasha - Swords of an Honorable Ruler.
Relationships: Inu no Taishou/Sesshoumaru
Kudos: 8





	Chichi-ue

**Author's Note:**

> I decided not to include the sword, Sounga, in this story, as it was not part of the original manga.
> 
> I have always thought of Sesshoumaru as a little boy who misses his father terribly despite his resentment.

The two men stood a little distance apart on the beach, as still as boulders. Only their long silver hair and fur blowing in the cold wind suggested they were living creatures. Youkai - monsters who roamed the lands, terrorising the human race. The youkai with his hair in a high ponytail had his back to the other. Blood oozed from his left arm creating a pool by his feet. Yet, he seemed unconcerned. His son, he knew, had something to say and so, he waited. Patiently, with slow deep breaths.

Sesshoumaru had never witnessed his father injured in any battle, against youkai or human warriors. He was the greatest youkai lord - incredibly strong, powerful, unbeatable. His father was his first and only role model. Sesshoumaru grew up admiring his father in every respect. There was no flaw, nothing he could ridicule. As a young youkai, Sesshoumaru desired to be just like him.

Until now.

Injured from an earlier battle with a youkai called Ryuukotsusei. Even though he stood firm on the ground, Sesshoumaru realised the first time his father bled would mean his last. The great youkai lord would not allow any opponent a chance to cut him. It had to mean the end - so thought Sesshoumaru. A true daiyoukai had dignity. 

_But then again… there has to be a way to live on. Ryuukotsusei is sealed, you are still standing in front of me. You remain the unbeatable Inu no Taishou. Yet why do you choose to..._

“Do you insist on going, Chichi-ue?”

“Will you stop me, Sesshoumaru?”

A slight pause. His father was a true daiyoukai with dignity.

“I won’t try to stop you. However, before you go, please entrust your fang-sword. Tessaiga, to me.”

“And if I say I won’t, will you kill me, your own father?”

_Sesshoumaru… always you desire my fang-sword. My son… when will you learn?_

He felt his chest constrict. It was taking energy to breathe. He needed to pass his legacy to his son - what he would in future need to understand and accept. For now, he knew there was only a single obsession in his son.

“Do you desire power so much? Why do you seek power?”

“The path I walk is the way of supreme conquest, and it is power that will reveal the way for me.”

The words stung.

_He is truly my flesh and blood. But what I had also once believed in became a foolish meaning of life._

Her demure, innocent face lingered in his mind. 

_Izayoi. Gentle and pure in heart and soul. She touched my heart. Only her._

“The way of supreme conquest?” he paused before continuing, “Sesshoumaru, tell me, have you someone to protect?”

“Someone to protect?”

The image of his father froze in his sight. Sesshoumaru could not have been more baffled.

_Power to protect? What has happened to you, Chichi-ue?_

“I, Sesshoumaru, have no need for such.”

A change in the winds… he could sense it. Suddenly, her voice… he could hear her calling him. _Anata…_

Sesshoumaru watched as his father transformed into this inu-youkai form, a magnificent dog beast, bounding away into the distance. A trail of blood left behind.

_Do you have someone to protect?_ “Ridiculous,” he muttered, turning back himself, walking along the shoreline.

That was the last he saw of his father.

_(A couple of hours later)_

Sesshoumaru stood on the edge of the cliff beneath which lay the ruins and debris. The flames were dying out, smoke blurring the view. He could not detect his father’s scent.

_Chichi-ue, why did you sacrifice your life for a human woman?_

His father’s loyal servant, a flea youkai, jumped out of the grass and perched on a rock beside him.

“Where is his body, Myouga?”

“Please forgive me, Sesshoumaru-sama,” he began. “The master ordered me to leave him.”

_Why, Chichi-ue? How could you leave me?_

“Your father managed to save his wife, Izayoi-sama and their newborn son before killing the human traitor, Takemaru.” Myouga’s voice faltered. “But then, he ordered me to leave him and in his place, watch over his son - ”

Sesshoumaru turned and walked away. He did not wish to hear anymore.

“Inuyasha.”

Sesshoumaru stopped.

“Your brother’s name is Inuyasha.”

“This Sesshoumaru has no despicable hanyou brother.”

“But...”

Sesshoumaru looked over his shoulder. “If you know where Chichi-ue’s resting place is, inform me at once.”

“Why, Sesshoumaru-sama? You think to retrieve your father’s sword, Tessaiga? It has been bequeathed to his younger son, Inuyasha.”

“WHAT?” Sesshoumaru felt blood rush to his fingertips. His claws clenched as he stared at the miserable little servant.

His rage was not lost on the flea youkai. “I am sure Toutousai, the blade master, would be in contact with you soon.”

With that, Myouga jumped off the rock and over the cliff, leaving his master’s eldest son that wretched night under the lunar eclipse.

_Inuyasha, a hanyou brother? Ridiculous. How could you, Chichi-ue?_

Even today, years and years later, beyond his companions Jaken’s bickering and Rin’s laughter, as he sat leaning against a tree, Sesshoumaru’s mind wandered back to that fateful, miserable night. He fingered the hilt of his father's sword tucked into his sash - Tenseiga. A sword that cut only to heal. A useless sword bequeathed to him, Sesshoumaru.

Chichi-ue...


End file.
